Not only did coach Bart Sasnett’s Cavaliers lose at home by scores of 2-1 against South Georgia and Middle Georgia, red cards affected their lineup. Leading scorer and freshman Stefano Barriga was red-carded (ejected) against South Georgia and had to miss the Middle Georgia match. The team’s second-leading scorer, fellow freshman Sebastian Lara, then was red-carded against Middle Georgia. Lara not only has to sit out today’s match at Young Harris, he must sit out the home match Saturday against Georgia Perimeter because of yellow-card accumulation.
“It’s a little unbelievable, losing two games at home,” said Sasnett, whose team is 2-3 in the region and 6-3 overall. “It’s almost as if we haven’t played like we’ve been at home. So I think it’s a good thing going on the road because we’re not playing like we have homefield advantage.”
Not having Barriga and Lara together today doesn’t help, either. To illustrate the two players’ impact, consider this: Barriga is ranked 19th in the NJCAA in scoring with 29 points (11 goals, seven assists) and Lara is 26th with 26 (seven goals, 12 assists).
“I’ve known (Barriga) since we were 8 or so, so I really know what moves he makes so I can feed him the ball and he can score,” Lara said.
Darton is still jelling as a team and only starts one sophomore (midfielder Dimitri Aurelus).
“It’s a growing experience,” Sasnett said. “They’re learning, getting better. Every game, they’re getting better, learning how to play college soccer. I’m extremely confident of the team’s ability. We should have not lost a game yet. We can do it, we’ve just got to put it together for 90 minutes.”
Young Harris beat Darton, 9-1, in the playoffs last year, so a win today against the Mountain Lions is one Barriga thinks can swing the team’s momentum upward.
“It would help us a lot,” Barriga said. “It would give us a better outlook on the season, a big lift since we are coming off those two losses.”
MOVING ON UP: The Darton women’s soccer team is now ranked second in the NSCAA poll and fourth in the NJCAA (this week’s version of that poll comes out today).
Coach Ken Veilands’ team (11-0 overall, 8-0 region) is off this week and resumes play at 5 p.m. Monday at Andrew. The time off gives defender/ forward Stephanie Daniels time to rest a sprained ankle, and Rachael McQuade, who dehydrated during Thursday’s 5-2 win against Middle Georgia, returned to practice Tuesday for the first time.
Shakira Duncan, who is the country’s second-leading junior-college scorer (68 points via 25 goals and 18 assists) is also resting this week because of a foot problem. Since Darton is not playing again until Monday, Veilands is pushing his team through two-a-day workouts today and Friday. They also went through that routine Monday.
“Their spirit and energy was really good,” Veilands said of Monday’s first practice. “In the afternoon they were just tired, but we’re challenging them with the speed of play, stressing one-touch soccer. In a tournament, we will have to play on back-to-back days, and in tournament time they will be under pressure. We just want to get them used to that.”
n PRACTICE STARTS SOON: The Albany State men’s basketball team begins practice Oct. 15 and is currently going through conditioning. The Rams return starters Scheraun King (shooting guard), Antonio Steele (forward) and James Clark (guard).
The Rams play an exhibition game at Southeastern Conference tournament champion Georgia on Nov. 7 for the first time and then open the season Nov. 18 at Rams coach Chris Cameron’s alma matter, Tulane. Other nonconference games include Georgia Southwestern at home Nov. 22, and at Valdosta State on Dec. 13.
“I believe we are playing one of the toughest, non-conference schedules in our conference and perhaps the country,” said Cameron, who played prep basketball at Dougherty. “We definitely will be tested by all four of those teams because they have good players and come from topnotch conferences. Our players will get to experience a lot of different venues that will help them prepare for the conference schedule.”
Cameron is optimistic about what his team can take from those contests.
“We’ve pretty-much got an upper-class team,” Cameron said. “This will be a good experience and a challenge. We went to Tulane a couple years ago and played right along with them (but lost, 67-55). We hope we can give them a good game and let the cards fall where they may.”
Last year’s projected starting point guard, Sean Glenn, suffered a season-ending injury in last year’s season opener against Xavier-Louisiana (a 78-67 loss), and is at “85 percent right now,” according to Cameron.
Looking ahead, the Rams begin its SIAC schedule at home against Miles on Nov. 29. Defending conference champion Benedict visits Albany State on Jan. 15, and rival Fort Valley State visits the HPER Gymnasium on Feb. 14.
n BLACKBURN HITS STRIDE: Darton women’s cross country runner Whitney Blackburn finally beat Young Harris’ Stacey Keahon in a race, and she did it in style at the Mercer Run Fits Sports Invitational last weekend. Blackburn, who ran at Baconton Charter School, was timed at 20:14.01 (36th overall), besting Keahon’s time of 20:52.61. Darton also beat Young Harris as a team for the first time, finishing 13th, three spots ahead of the Lady Mountain Lions, and sits atop the region.
“She’s just solid in her training, she does what we ask,” Darton coach David Mann said. “When it comes to race times, she’s starting to believe in herself and the training has really paid off. That was the fastest time she’s ever ran.”
Brittney Williams (21:05.74) was 60th overall, followed by Tabitha Payne (69th, 21:15), Dayna Quigley (86th, 21:46.06), Morgen Montgomery (105th, 22:26.23), Tewa McKay (107th, 22:32.21), Randi Holtz (111th, 22:37.98) and Juwana Stringer (123rd, 23:33.60).
Darton’s men were 16th overall at Mercer, but has their eyes on Truett-McConnell down the road.
“We’re still No. 2 in the region next to them,” Mann said. “We had three guys run in the 28’s Saturday (Nick Felder 69th overall, 28:16; Dylan Fletcher 73rd 28:21.75; Will West 76th, 28:25.45).”
Josh Mercer (101st, 29:05.44), Malachi Bell (102nd, 29:07.27), Wes Bowen (107th, 29:23.78), Symone Anthony (142nd, 30:53.65) and Michael Cue (158th, 32:16.74) rounded out the Cavaliers’ performance. Darton races at the Auburn Invitational on Saturday.
n RIDING HIGH: The Georgia Southwestern girls soccer team defeated Columbia (S.C.) College, 3-0, on Sunday, earning their third win of the season against seven losses. Elizabeth Keller, Kalila Lincoln and Kesha Thompson scored goals for the Lady Hurricanes.
“It was a great result for us, considering we started seven freshmen and two sophomores, so we’re a very young group,” GSW coach Barry Kaplan said. “Also, Christy Drabek earned her first college shutout. To get that result, it couldn’t have come at a better time for us.”
Today, Georgia Southwestern hosts Armstrong Atlantic at 4 p.m.
n REGION OPENER: The GSW men’s soccer team opened its Peach Belt schedule last Saturday and lost, 2-0, against Francis Marion.
“We’re doing well, making progress,” said Hurricanes coach Warren Russ, whose team is 1-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference. “We’re just not getting the results we want, but we’re playing against some really good teams. We had chances to score, but they got their two goals over a 10-minute period in the second half. We put a lot of pressure on (Francis Marion), trying to score. We just couldn’t get it done.”
n LOOKING AHEAD: The Albany State volleyball team is enjoying its undefeated run through last weekend’s SIAC crossover tournament — for now.
The Lady Rams resume conference play Saturday, hosting Benedict, and then play road games at Miles, Clark Atlanta and Alabama A&M next week.
On Tuesday, Albany State had its first practice since the crossover, and Skinner remains impressed with freshman Sabrina Garcia.
“It’s delightful watching her play,” Lady Rams coach Robert Skinner said. “She’s only 5-6 or 5-7, but she hits the ball extremely well and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. I’m very proud of her right now.”
